Bret Bonanni and Alex Bowen combined to score nine goals and the No. 2 Stanford men’s water polo team earned a 14-12 victory over No. 5 Long Beach State at Avery Aquatic Center on Saturday.
Bonanni tied his season high with five scores and Bowen reached the four-goal mark for the third time this year, and first in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play, as Stanford’s potent duo continued their ascent up the Cardinal record books.
Bonanni’s first score was the result of a penalty shot and was the 236th goal of his career, moving him past James Bergeson (1979-82) and alone into second place on Stanford’s career goals list. He has 240, trailing only four-time Olympian Tony Azevedo (332).
Bowen, too, is closing in on Bergeson and will likely end his career third all-time in Stanford history. The senior has 229 goals, six shy of Bergeson (235).
Their combined firepower was needed, as Stanford (19-3 overall, 5-1 MPSF) held off the competitive 49ers.
Adam Abdulhamid opened up the scoring for Stanford in the first with a goal at 7:22. Bowen scored his first at 5:28 to break a 1-1 tie and ignited a 4-0 Cardinal run.
Long Beach State eventually tied the game at 5 early in the second period. Bonanni answered with two more even-strength goals to pull Stanford ahead. The 49ers again countered with two goals for another tie.
BJ Churnside scored less than a minute into the third quarter (7:09) and Bonanni added an exclusion goal at 6:09. Bowen capped off the three-goal period with his second at 3:42 to put Stanford ahead to stay.
Drew Holland made 15 stops in the cage, his ninth multi-save game of the season and fifth in MPSF play. Abdulhamid’s effort was his sixth multi-goal game of the year.
Stanford returns to action next Saturday when it heads to Berkeley to take on No. 4 California. This year’s edition of the Big Splash begins at 10:30 a.m. and will be carried live on the Pac-12 Networks.
Wrestling
Stanford opened the season with a 27-9 victory over host Cal Baptist on Saturday in an outdoor meet tabbed “Take it Outside” in Riverside.
Stanford won seven of the 10 bouts, scoring bonus points in four of them. Six Cardinal wrestlers appeared in their first collegiate dual meet.
After true freshman Mason Pengilly dropped a 7-6 decision at 125 pounds on a controversial video replay call to Christian Betancourt, redshirt freshman Connor Schram evened the match with a 7-5 decision against Peter Cunningham at 133 pounds.
True freshman Isaiah Locsin also picked up his first collegiate win with a 7-5 decision over Cal Baptist’s Alex Anunciation at 141 pounds. Fifth-year senior Garrett Schaner, who dropped down a weight class, pushed the Cardinal lead to 9-3 with an 8-3 decision over Dakota Thayer at 149 pounds.
Redshirt sophomore Maxwell Hvolbek, who missed most of last season due to injury, returned with an impressive 10-1 major decision over Nolan Kistler at 157 pounds.
After redshirt sophomore Peter Galli, who was wrestling up at 165 pounds, fell to Alec Smith, 7-3, another redshirt freshman, Keaton Subjeck, collected his first collegiate win. At 174 pounds, Subjeck turned in a 9-1 major decision against Anthony Ballinger.
Redshirt junior Michael Sojka also secured a major decision at 197 pounds, defeating Paul Head 8-0. Redshirt freshman Nathan Butler capped things off with his first career fall, pinning David Dill in 4:18.
Stanford wrestles Pac-12 foe CSU Baskersfield on Sunday. The Cardinal and Roadrunners face off at 2 p.m. in Bakersfield.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics